North Korea appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing reactor in the Yongbyon nuclear complex, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is concerned.
"
Since the beginning of July, there are signs, in particular the spillage of cooling water, compatible with the operation of the reactor,
" said the IAEA in its annual report.
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The Yongbyon reactor has been shut down since early December 2018, said the report dated Friday.
A restart of this reactor, with a capacity of five megawatt, could mean that Pyongyang is continuing its nuclear development program in flagrant violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
The future of this nuclear complex was one of the points of contention at the second summit of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with US President Donald Trump, which ended in failure in 2019 in Hanoi.
Multiple international sanctions
North Korea had offered to dismantle part of the Yongbyon complex but not its other nuclear production infrastructure, in exchange for a "
partial
"
lifting
of economic sanctions.
This offer had been rejected by Washington and since the negotiations between the two countries have stalled.
The reclusive regime is under multiple international sanctions for its military programs, including nuclear, banned and which have significantly progressed under the reign of Kim Jong Un.
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IAEA experts were expelled from North Korea in 2009 and since then the agency has been monitoring North Korea's activities from overseas.
A possible restart of this reactor follows recent information that Pyongyang is also using a radiochemical laboratory located nearby to separate the plutonium from the spent fuel coming from the reactor.
The signs of reactor and laboratory operation are "
deeply troubling,
" the IAEA said, adding that these activities constitute a "
clear violation
" of UN resolutions.
Located about 100 kilometers north of Pyongyang, the North Korean Yongbyon nuclear complex includes dozens of buildings related to the North Korean nuclear program.
Opened in 1986, this is where North Korea's first reactor was built, North Korea's only known source of plutonium.
Yongbyon would not be the country's only uranium enrichment facility, however, and its closure would not mean the end of the country's nuclear program.
